The Gift of Prophecy
.... In our previous posting we discussed the prophetic office, to which God has called but a small number of Christians (Ephesians 4:11). But there is also a broader ‘gift’ of prophecy that is far more widely available:
.... "For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged."
(1 Corinthians 14:31)
.... In the sense of the spiritual gift, prophecy is received in a very similar way yet it differently applied. It is for the purpose of edification, exhortation and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3). It may be used to edify the church as a whole, or it may be used in speaking to individuals – and through this the thought of their heart may be revealed:
.... "But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you."
(1 Corinthians 14:24-25)
.... When this occurs, the prophecy and the secret of their heart will match; one might say that a comparing of spiritual things with spiritual is taking place (1 Corinthians 2:13), and when they do match, the listener will know for themselves that God has spoken to them. Yet this prophecy should still be judged for a Scriptural basis, to determine it’s basic truthfulness, and also it should be judged for its applicability (for example, if a person is exhorted to undertake some sort of action, the applicability must be judged). .
.... This brings us to a curious phenomenon that sometimes accompanies this gift. Do not be too surprised if you hear someone prophesy one day, using King James English! Is it because God spoke to them this way? Probably not. Because, remember, the Holy Spirit does not speak in words of human wisdom, but through comparing spiritual things with spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:13).
.... Putting the prophecy into human words, for the sake of expressing it to others, is an area where the prophet himself becomes involved:
.... "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets."
(1 Corinthians 14:32; Psalm 12:6)
.... In this particular case, we can pretty much count on it that our friend reads the King James version of the Bible. This has produced a ‘grid of understanding’, or a ‘lens’, through which he processes God’s word. So when he compares the message with the Scriptures, as he normally would do in evaluating it (and before expressing it), this is the vernacular he would be accustomed to using, and he may express it the same way. It’s generally a harmless phenomenon, but there may be times when it is useful to keep this distinction in mind.
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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 6
posted by loren at 11:01 PM
3 Comments:
All Scriptures are authored by the Holy Spirit, but sometimes you can see the writer’s personal style coming through his presentation. For example, Paul would explain a truth, which gives evidence of a deeper truth, and then a still deeper truth, etc., and this was his normal approach in exploring a topic. Romans is a good example of this.
John, on the other hand, used a ‘dueling’ approach, which is very evident in 1 John: ‘This is true, and this is false; which means that this is also true, and this is also false’ etc. Also, through this process he expands into applications of the truth and it’s meaning, rather than delving back into underlying truths as Paul would do.
For myself, I like to expound on a complicated subject chronologically.
These are all examples of a ‘grid of reasoning’ through which the original message of the Lord might be presented by the ‘prophet’, as in our example of the prophet who spoke in King James English. But the important thing is to determine whether the Holy Spirit has truly authored the inherent message, or whether the person has spoken presumptuously.
By
loren, at 12/08/2005 11:02 PM
1 Corinthians 14:24-25, quoted in the main posting, also shows us why ‘Christian’ psychology is an actual spiritual counterfeit. Through a careful study of human nature, psychology will offer insights which sometimes hit close to home. When this happens, it triggers a conclusion in the mind of the hearer (whether they are a Christian or not,) that ‘God has just spoken to them’. So in this sense, psychology mimics the spiritual gift of prophecy. But only the word of God can truly be used to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrew 4:12).
By
loren, at 12/08/2005 11:02 PM
Each time God speaks through prophecy, the utterance He gives is a distinct, new gift in itself. If He speaks in prophecy through that person again at a later time, that is a second, distinct gift in itself, and so forth, even if He speaks through this person often. We know this because prophecy comes, not by the will of man, but by the will of God (2 Pet 1:21).
Now, I don’t say this to quench the flow of the gift in any way, because I think if we have faith to prophesy then God is willing to work through us freely (Rom 12:6). He even exhorts us to diligently seek this gift (1 Cor 14:39). But I say this to keep our relationship with Him in the fore, in which the attitude in our hearts is to serve Him, as opposed to the ministry taking on a life of it’s own through a lazy perception.
In fact, it is perfectly possible for someone to prophesy from their own heart, simply because they believe they are the one in control and have the power, even when the Lord has never spoken through them at all (Ezek 13:3). But in true prophecy we find the ultimate aim of all spiritual gifts fulfilled, which is, to be a witness to Jesus, and His heart toward the church:
“Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
(Rev 19:10)
By
loren, at 12/08/2005 11:03 PM
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